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AAM-2 'Silver' (1935-36)
1.6m long
107kg take-off weight
3kN thrust FMA/ RRF RL-AO-102 'Aqua' alcohol/ liquid oxygen rocket engine
The main difference between the AAM-1 and 2 is the use of Gyroscopes in the centre of the rocket between the alcohol and oxygen tanks for stabilisation.
Rockets Silver-4 to Silver-8 had an improved ‘Aqua’ engine with much improved reliability, featured new pumps and a basic automatic cut-off system.

A crude powered rocket with a steel piercing cap, behind which was placed a warhead placed inside a shrapnel casing, first designed for use against Airships rumored to be building with crude armour to defend against incendiary bullets. With the lack of these type of airships actually being built the weapon was repurposed for use against bombers. Initially the weapons proved successful in tests but the method of delivery was less than successful as it required the aircraft it was mounted on to fly under an enemy bomber and fire the weapon upward, which was a difficult task in the heat of battle and increasing weapons load out on newer heavy bombers. The type was eventually abandoned for shorter, more powerful horizontally fired weapons that were mounted externally, which increased the their versatility with regards to which aircraft could mount them.

FFRD
The PRD program by 1935 was less than successful largely due to the method of firing the weapon in addition to size of the warhead being insufficient for destroying large heavily armed bombers. In order for the weapons to cause enough damage aircraft delivering them onto the target aircraft had to get close enough to land a substantial number of hits in a tight spread. It also had to do this from a very specific attack angle, from below. It was decided that externally mounted rockets were more versatile in terms of deployment and modifications to aircraft intended to carry them. With the increased range these new weapons required a larger warhead was needed to ensure damage to the target and the 5.1" naval AA round was selected. The result was the Forward Firing Rankin Dart or FFRD. The weapons low speed resulted in reduced accuracy at long range due to the warheads weight. The FFRD was a significant improvement over the PRD but found better success as an air to ground weapon. This weapon was later used as a basis for an Anti-Sub Rocket (FFASR)

The FFASR (Forward Firing Anti-Sub Rocket) was developed from the FFRD which has been in service for several years. With the heavy weight of the warhead of the FFRD effecting accuracy at long range a quick fix was to use a lighter warhead. This was made easier by the use of a solid steel mass for the nose, which used kinetic energy to pierce a submarines pressure hull.

The HVAGR (High Velocity Air to Ground Rocket) was developed to replace the FFRD in its later air to ground role as the FFRD proved more successful in this role while other weapons fulfilled the role of air to air weapon. The HVAGR addressed the issue of accuracy at long range that the FFRD suffered from by using a much more powerful rocket motor to give the desired flat trajectory.

A-AM-1 (Airforce Air-to-Air Missile)
In 1946 the Atlantean airforce approached the Aspis Arsenal works (later Roth-Aero was also brought into the research project) to design a guided missile to be fired from aircraft at enemy bombers. The result of the research was the A-AM-1 Wasp missile. Test firing of the missiles began in late 1947 launched from the venerable Vanquish bomber and later the Spartan Sabre. The Wasp missile was a two stage weapon with cruciform wings and tail fins. The missile body was made from aluminium alloy and the control fins and nose cone were made of plastic. It was guided to the target initially by radio control mid course until the missiles active homing radar picked up the target.

Tests were reasonably successful although the missile was limited to clear weather daytime use. It was also already becoming obsolete with the speed of modern jets but was still useful vs. older, slower prop driven aircraft. Never the less it proved to be a useful learning tool for subsequent missile designs such as the A-AM-2 Guayota

The A-SAM-1 Dragon was designed as a surface based anti-air weapon that was based on the AAM series of test missiles, specifically the AAM-5, but scaled down to roughly 1/4 size as the missile only needed to reach the altitude of bombers before detonation. The missile would be fired from special bases in strategic locations and guided to the target by manual command to line of sight using radio guidance. Once the missile had reached the bomber stream the proximity fuse would detonate the missiles warhead which would create a blast large enough to bring down several bombers.

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